How severe is CVE-2020-28274?

CVE-2020-28274 has a CVSS score of 9.8/10, rated CRITICAL. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2020-28274?

CVE-2020-28274 affects the following packages: deepref (npm). Ecosystems affected: npm.

How do I fix CVE-2020-28274?

No patched version of deepref has shipped for CVE-2020-28274 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.

How do I detect CVE-2020-28274 in my npm dependencies?

Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for deepref, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

How do I mitigate CVE-2020-28274 if there is no patch (or I can't update yet)?

Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.

Is CVE-2020-28274 actively exploited in the wild?

No public exploit code has been indexed for CVE-2020-28274 yet. This does not mean the vulnerability cannot be exploited — absence of public exploits does not imply safety. Apply the recommended fix and use O3 Security to monitor your exposure.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2020-28274?

CVE-2020-28274 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 2.3%, placing it in the 83th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. This score indicates relatively lower exploitation probability, though the CVSS severity should still guide your patching priority.

When was CVE-2020-28274 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2020-28274 was published on October 12, 2021 and was last updated on November 8, 2023. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

📦

📦 npm

Not in CISA KEV

CRITICAL severity

CVE-2020-28274 — deepref

CRITICALFix: isaymatato/deepref@24935e6

CVE-2020-28274 is a critical-severity (CVSS 9.8) remote code execution vulnerability in deepref. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.

Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'deepref'

Published

Oct 12, 2021

Updated

Nov 8, 2023

Affected

1 pkg

Patched

See advisory

Exploits

None indexed

Exploitation data as of Oct 5, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

2.3%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Lower Risk0.00%

Lower risk than most CVEs83th percentile — riskier than 83% of all scored CVEsHighest risk

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

How urgent is this, really

CVE-2020-28274 by exploitation likelihood (EPSS) against impact (CVSS). Outside the shaded patch-first corner.

Where this sits among everything scored

Of 385,738 CVEs with a current EPSS score, this one falls in the < 10% band (highlighted). Counts from FIRST.org, log-scaled.

Real-World Exposure

1 pkg affected

How broadly this vulnerability is actually deployed: weekly install volume shows current usage, and reverse-dependency count shows how many other packages break if it stays unpatched.

1other npm packages depend on this — each one inherits the vulnerability until it's patched upstream

deeprefnpm

51downloads / week

Description

Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'deepref' versions 1.1.1 through 1.2.1 allows attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.

Affected Packages

1 total

Ecosystem	Package	Vulnerable range	Fix
📦npm	`deepref`	≥ 1.1.1	No fix

Affected Products

1 product · 1 configurations

Application

deeprefdeepref_project

≥ 1.1.1 && ≤ 1.2.1

range

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

Detect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for deepref, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of deepref has shipped for CVE-2020-28274 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
Cap what an attacker can consume: apply request size, rate and timeout limits in front of the affected component, and run it with memory and CPU limits so exhaustion degrades one worker rather than the whole service.

Frequently Asked Questions

Prototype pollution vulnerability in 'deepref' versions 1.1.1 through 1.2.1 allows attacker to cause a denial of service and may lead to remote code execution.

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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